TechnoBuffaloTechnoBuffalo's content is created by a team of professionals that are self-proclaimed tech-enthusiasts. Our articles cover a breadth of technology-related issues and topics from the everyday uses to the business side of the industry.2015-08-02T20:00:34Zhttp://www.technobuffalo.com/feed/atom/WordPressKillian Bellhttp://www.killianbell.comhttp://www.technobuffalo.com/?p=7400982015-08-02T13:30:13Z2015-08-02T20:00:34Z

A new BlackBerry Passport “Silver Edition” has leaked out ahead of its official debut. The device is mostly identical to the original version, but it sports a high-end form factor that appears to be made of aluminum.

CrackBerry reports that the Passport Silver Edition is the BlackBerry “Dallas” we’ve been hearing about for many months. We still don’t know much about it at this point, so it’s unclear how much it will cost, where it will be available, or whether it will be a carrier exclusive in some markets.

However, it seems safe to assume the Silver Edition will be almost entirely the same as the original Passport internally, so fans can expect a 4.5-inch display, a quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB of RAM, and a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera.

]]>0Killian Bellhttp://www.killianbell.comhttp://www.technobuffalo.com/?p=7400962015-08-02T11:59:37Z2015-08-02T19:00:27ZSee full gallery on TechnoBuffalo

Alcatel OneTouch this week kicked off a terrific back to school bundle deal, which gives customers the opportunity to pick up its Idol 3 smartphone and a OneTouch Watch for just $299.99.

Normally priced at $279.99 on its own, the Idol 3 is a device that offers high-end specifications and attractive design at an affordable price. It boasts a 5.5-inch 1080p display, front-facing stereo speakers, a quad-core Snapdragon 615 processor, and a 13-megapixel Sony camera.

Until Sunday, August 9, you can get the Idol 3 with a black OneTouch Watch for just $299.99 on Amazon, or through Alcatel’s own online store. That’s $129.99 less than you would normally pay for both devices.

]]>1Killian Bellhttp://www.killianbell.comhttp://www.technobuffalo.com/?p=7400932015-08-02T11:31:47Z2015-08-02T18:00:03ZSee full gallery on TechnoBuffalo

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are now available on Virgin Mobile USA again, more than five months after they were dropped from the carrier’s lineup. To celebrate their return, both devices have received $100 discounts.

That means you can snag a prepaid, 16GB iPhone 6 for just $549.99, while the 16GB iPhone 6 Plus is now priced at $649.99. If you’re looking to spend even less, you can also get the prepaid, 8GB iPhone 5c in white for just $299.99.

Unfortunately, Virgin Mobile isn’t currently offering any other storage capacities — so if you want a 64GB or 128GB handset, you’ll have to get it elsewhere. The iPhone 5c is only available in white with 8GB of storage, too.

It seems strange Virgin would bring the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus back now, with next-generation models right around the corner. But with a $100 discount, the carrier will likely shift a decent number of units as smartphone shoppers look to bag an iPhone with a hefty reduction.

Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge Plus have yet again leaked out ahead of their official debuts. This time the duo appear in what is believed to be an official Samsung press render.

The image above was published by reliable leaker Evan Blass, or @evleaks on Twitter. The Galaxy Note 5 looks a lot like its predecessors at first glance — though it clearly has a revamped S Pen stylus — while the S6 edge Plus looks just like the existing S6 edge, only larger.

The latter will obviously replace the Note edge variant this year, and it means those who choose the curved glass option miss out on the S Pen. This makes sense when you consider a curved surface isn’t exactly optimal for stylus use.

One interesting difference between these two devices is the significantly larger and bolder capacitive buttons on the Note 5. Again, this may be to accommodate the S Pen; larger buttons would be easier to hit with a fine stylus tip.

Having used all manner of phones over the past few years, Jon knows a thing or two about a thing or two. Not only is he well-versed in the dark arts of Android vs. iOS, but testing numerous devices have taken him around the block—and back again—bouncing between all big four carriers here in the U.S. The experience has given him some perspective, and first-hand knowledge of which carrier works best, and where.

When choosing a carrier, we often make a decision based on price. For things like talk, text and data, how much will it cost me from month-to-month? The question not always addressed is: how good is a carrier’s network? Companies often share coverage maps and talk about how they provide service for every nook and cranny of the U.S. But how do these charts actually translate to real world usage?

Jon is here to tell you about his experiences on the different carriers, and which one he ultimately feels is the best for him. Of course, your experience will differ from his depending on where you live, but he wanted to share his first-hand insight since he often jumps around from carrier to carrier.

Jon’s experience in the industry makes him a good source if you’re thinking about switching to a different carrier. It beats going into the store and talking to a salesman.

]]>0Jacob Kleinmanhttp://www.technobuffalo.com/?p=7400372015-07-31T20:37:59Z2015-08-02T15:00:51ZSee full gallery on TechnoBuffalo

Apple Music is still a work in progress. That’s especially true on Mac computers, where it comes baked into an increasingly clunky iTunes app. But what if it didn’t have to be so clunky? One designer published a concept, the images of which we’ve included above, that show a new take.

The best part of this concept design is that it’s not iTunes. That alone would be enough to win us over, but Andrew Ambrosino takes it a step further. There’s a simple navigation bar up top, which breaks Apple Music into current categories like My Music, New, For You, Connect and Radio. There’s also a new tab called “Friends,” where you’d be able to check out your friends’ playlists and share music directly.

Diving into specific tabs we see even more improvements. “New” gets a clean look with improved search features. “My Music” makes it easy to switch between different views and easily drag songs into your playlists. Finally, the Friends tab offers a stream of music suggestions from your contacts. You can even choose between everything you friends share and music sent directly to you.

Like we said, this concept design looks great. There’s even a beautiful new desktop miniplayer that matches Apple’s Yosemite style. Hit the source link below for Ambrosino’s full rundown.

]]>3Eric Frederiksenhttp://www.technobuffalo.com/?p=7399862015-07-31T20:42:29Z2015-08-02T13:00:21ZSee full gallery on TechnoBuffalo

Along with all the nightmare-causing graphical glitches and game-breaking bugs in last year’s Assassin’s Creed Unity, one complaint came out of the decision to make all the multiplayer characters in the game’s cooperative mode male. The decision came out of game’s structure – every player was playing as the protagonist, Arno – but some choice words from the game’s technical director made it sound like Ubisoft was cheapening out and didn’t want to do the extra work. When news about Assassin’s Creed Syndicate came out, then, people assumed with good reason that the choice to have two characters, one male, one female, was a response to the blowup.

“We’ve been so focused on building this game the way we want with those two characters. It’s not done to pay lip-service, it’s done to build a great game,” he said in an interview with GameSpot.

The dual protagonists are a way for the team to make the game feel new and fresh.

“That’s where we came up with the idea of having two protagonists, which evolved into having twin protagonists, and a brother/sister relationship we’ve never explored – that started two and a half years ago.”

In other words, Evie existed in some form or another before Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was on shelves.

As Mayles so clearly indiciates, Velvet Dark was aa “sister” title to Perfect Dark.

The lead character in Perfect Dark is Joanna Dark, as seen in the screenshot at the head of this post. Perhaps Velvet Dark would have literally been a tale about her sister. More than likely, the world will never know.

Still, this is a pretty neat little piece of one game company’s history. Hopefully the Rare Replay collection that drops next week will be the start of another great journey into the studio’s past.

Ever wonder how surfboards work? What makes them float and skim across the water with such ease? Discovery News explores the history and evolution of surfboards, from the earliest commercially made surfboards that weighed over 100 pounds (45 kg) to today where surfboards use the same materials used in spaceships.

A lot more science goes in to surfboard technology than you might have thought: buoyancy, surface tension, mass, shape, and hydrodynamics. Pretty cool stuff.

So next time you’re at the beach with your friends you can drop all that science knowledge and just let them know its all just hydrodynamic forces in conjunction with various composites leveraging buoyancy, surface tension to make that athlete skim across the water with such ease. Or you can just say “science” and call it a day.

Rhythm Heaven is a very silly franchise from Nintendo that tasks players with solving quick rhythmic puzzles in order to win. They’re all very silly and, if you don’t mind looking like an idiot while bobbing your head to the beat, very fun.

The latest collection of rhythm based mini-games, Rhythm Heaven: The Best +, is officially out in Japan. You can see it’s newest commercial above, and, whaddaya know, they’re all bobbing their heads. It’s good to know that I’m not alone.

This collection has not been announced for western audiences yet. However, the good news is that Nintendo has a track record of localizing the Rhythm Heaven games. It’s just that, unfortunately, that localization period seems to take a while. The titles aren’t exactly text heavy, but a lot of the rhythmic samples feature both large and small Japanese vocal samples. All that has to be redone, not just rewritten.

Will we see this Rhythm Heaven collection on our Nintendo 3DS systems? I can’t say definitively that we will. I can, though, say that I expect we should. Stay tuned.

We’ve seen some incredible devices this year, from the Galaxy S6 to the recent OnePlus 2. And while you might have already settled down to one of 2015’s big superphones, there are still plenty of devices on the horizon to look forward to. The Moto X Pure Edition, for example, is coming soon, while the Moto G just recently came out, sporting some serious specs at an amazing price.

What else can we look forward to this year? Well, judging by all the rumors over the past few months, it sounds like some of the market’s biggest companies are saving their best stuff for last. Devices like the Galaxy S6 Edge+, Xperia Z5, and maybe even a BlackBerry device running Android.

We made a list of the devices were most looking forward to. All of the information here is based on rumors around the internet, which means stuff could change between now and the time these phones are released—if they’re released at all.

Check out the video and let us know which phones you’re looking forward to the most.

Lumia Cityman & Lumia Talkman

Part of the reason we’re excited about Microsoft’s upcoming devices is that they will be among the first handsets to run full Windows 10. Microsoft is doing something different with its latest operating system, Windows 10, by running one OS across phones, tablets, and PCs. With a unified OS, continuity between mobile and desktops should be much better. As such, we should expect some flagship specs from these two devices.

Cityman, on the other hand should pack beefier specs, like a bigger 5.7-inch QHD OLED display, a Snapdragon 810 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable storage, an Iris infrared scanner for Windows Hello, a 20-megapixel camera with triple LED flash, aluminum side buttons, a bigger 3,300 mAh battery, and it will also feature Qi wireless charging, and USB Type C.

These Windows 10 Mobile devices sound like great options if you’re into Microsoft’s ecosystem. They’ll be packing some serious hardware, though we’re still unsure when these devices will pop up. Hopefully we’ll see an official announcement at IFA in September.

Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+

Samsung’s Note line has gotten better over the years, and we should expect this trend to keep up once the new iteration hits. The Galaxy Note 4 was an awesome device that gave us a taste of the company’s emphasis on improved designs, and the overall build quality was just superb.

With the Galaxy Note 5, however, we should expect to see the same design language we saw from the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, complete with a metal frame and glass body. Not only will the Note 5 look more luxurious than ever, it should also feel much better to hold the device; early pictures suggest the backside will have curved edges, making it more ergonomic for the hand.

In terms of specs, here’s what we know so far. The Galaxy Note 5 will feature the Exynos 7422 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 5.67-inch Super AMOLED QHD display, a microSD slot for expandable storage, and an updated S Pen.

The Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, on the other hand, might actually steal the show, and offer a similar screen as the Note 5, along with similar specs. However, the design will differ in that it will more closely match Samsung’s Galaxy S6 Edge, which remains one of the cooler and more unique phones on the market.

Rumor has it Samsung plans to unveil both phones at an Aug. 13 event, so it shouldn’t be long until we know more.

Sony’s Xperia Z5

Sony’s smartphone lineup is a bit messy right now. In the past few months we’ve seen the company unveil the Xperia Z4, then the Z3+ and finally the Xperia Z4v. However, it looks like Sony may have a fix on the way in the form of the Xperia Z5, its next flagship device.

The Xperia Z5 should launch later this year with some serious hardware, though it could be limited to Japan at first. The Z5 will apparently pack a Snapdragon 820 processor, which seems a bit of an overkill, but if it’s for future proofing, then why not. It should also pack 4GB of RAM, a massive 4,500mAh battery and a fingerprint scanner. Otherwise, it should offer a similar industrial design to the Xperia Z4, which looks great. As for the camera, Sony’s allegedly sticking with a 20.7-megapixel shooter, though the phone will get an updated CMOS sensor, which should mean improved photos and video.

The Xperia Z5 won’t launch for at least a few more months, though hopefully it hits the market sooner rather than later.

iPhone 6s & iPhone 6s Plus

When Apple unveiled the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus last year, the company finally took a step toward bigger screens, and chances are we’ll see the same thing repeated this year. With the new iPhones set to launch in a few months, Apple is rumored to equip the new iPhones with a 12-megapixel sensor to better compete against its Android counterparts. Hopefully we’ll see 4K video recording, better slow-mo, and better low light capabilities.

Rumors are also saying that the new iPhones will feature Apple’s new Force Touch technology, which would enable the device to tell the difference between a quick tap and a stronger touch of the display and react accordingly. We’ve seen this technology before on the Apple Watch and the latest MacBook’s so it would make sense for Apple to add this feature to its next-generation iPhones.

We should also expect the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus to feature Apple’s latest A9 processor, 2GB of RAM, a new NFC Chip, faster LTE, stronger builds, and even a new Rose Gold color option.

We’re not too far away from Apple’s usual September event, so hopefully we’ll learn more about the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus soon.

New Nexus (2015)

There’s been a lot of rumors going around trying to paint a picture of what to expect from the next Nexus, though what’s being worked on is still unclear. Google is rumored to be launching two new Nexus smartphones this year, one made from LG and the other with Huawei.

The new LG Nexus smartphone is expected to sport a 5.2-inch display with a QHD resolution, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 808 processor and a 2,700mAh battery. It may also feature a 3D camera similar to what we’ve seen with Google’s Project Tango, and feature a totally new design rather than rehashing a current LG phone.

The Huawei Nexus device, on the other hand, sounds even more impressive. Inside, it’ll apparently come packing a Snapdragon 820 processor, a fingerprint scanner, a 3,500mAh battery and a 5.7-inch QHD display, which seems like a more manageable size compared to the current Nexus 6.

Google isn’t expected to reveal any new Nexus gadgets until late 2015 when it releases the final build of Android M. Google’s event typically happens near the end of October, so we’ve still got a few more months before the rumored phones get an official unveiling.

BlackBerry slider running Android

Last month, there were reports suggesting that BlackBerry might load one if its new phones with Android. Well, within a few weeks of those reports surfacing, another report claims the mysterious BlackBerry slider would eventually wind up on AT&T.

The BlackBerry Venice will apparently be a high-end BlackBerry handset that will be better than any of the BlackBerry 10 devices we’ve seen so far. Inside it will allegedly pack a 5.4-inch QHD display, a 1.8GHz Snapdragon 808 processor, and 3GB of RAM. Venice is also expected to have an 18-megapixel camera, and a 5-megapixel camera in front.

Rumors have it the BlackBerry Venice will hit sometime in November, so we’re only a few months away until we hear an official announcement from BlackBerry.

]]>0Ron Duwellhttp://www.technobuffalo.com/?p=7388242015-07-29T22:59:53Z2015-08-01T18:00:54ZSee full gallery on TechnoBuffalo

Oh, Assassin’s Creed, the little series that could. What started as an ambitious open-world stealth game from Ubisoft has, against all odds, blossomed into a multi-million selling annual franchise that can go toe-to-toe with the big AAA shooters that typically dominate October and November. Let’s not forget that it also has stretched far beyond what its original creators ever intended.

I mean, do you remember playing the first game, a stealth action title that revolved around creating social chaos to hide your murders, thinking “Man, this series could really use some explosive navel battles.” Because all stealth games need to put players in control of the noisiest, most chaotic form of human warfare.

Sometimes, Assassin’s Creed’s innovations worked, like said naval battles in Assassin’s Creed III and IV, and other times it has come up just plain flat, like companion apps and tower defense modes. Ubisoft’s grand vision has morphed into a bigger everything-but-the-kitchen-sink than even Grand Theft Auto, and its attempts to squeeze everything into a single game lost me after just two entries.

It’s a stealth game! It’s an open-world RPG! It’s an action game. It’s a platformer. It’s a pirate warfare simulator. It’s a dull protagonist simulator (ugh, Desmond)! It’s getting turned off because I just don’t have time for this anymore. Admittedly, I really do want to try Black Flag one day since it seems to be the genuine fan-favorite that they got right, but that time has not yet come.

More so than the gameplay though, I’ve always enjoyed Assassin’s Creed’s sense of style. The whole white hood thing might be a generic look that everyone rips off of these days, but we forget how refreshing it truly was back when we had nothing but masked space marines highlighting our holiday.

Kudos to Ubisoft’s artists for making it work throughout other stages of history as well. It’s kind of like Star Wars in a way, where the earthen colored robes of Tatooine’s moisture farmers, designed to protect them from the two suns, would eventually become “Jedi robes” because that’s just what Obi-wan, Luke… and Uncle Owen wear.

Assassin’s Creed’s white robes make sense in the sunny Middle East, but nobody in Italy, France, England, or even China could wear such an outlandish getup without causing a certain level of suspicion. Thanks to this constant sense of style though, Ubisoft has made the practical and casual Middle Eastern style a unified wardrobe of the assassins.

With that, we’ll take a quick look at how this series has evolved from a single sci-fi mind-trip back to the Middle East to a blast throughout history. We have Assassin’s Creed, Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, Assassin’s Creed III, Assassin’s Creed: Liberation, Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag, Assassin’s Creed Rogue, Assassin’s Creed Unity, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles, and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.

Wow, you might as well just call your game Assassin’s Creed Generic Subtitle. Sorry, I left out the Nintendo DS and PSP games because that’s something Ubisoft, and AAA Western developers in general, just don’t really get.

What’s your favorite based solely on the looks? I still have a soft spot for the genuine and innocent feel of the first one back before it became what it is today.

Editor’s note: The series peaked at Brotherhood as far as I’m concerned. – Joey

With the iPhone 6s expected to make its debut next month, the annual onslaught of leaked images is in full swing.

Each year Apple says it takes security of its new phones seriously, and then we see what feels like an endless parade of leaked images of various parts and prototypes. This weekend we’re being treated to two new batches. The first grouping comes from M.I.C. Gadget and appears to show an assembled iPhone 6s prototype (pictured above). It’s difficult to tell if these are indeed authentic mainly because, as expected, there is no real change from the iPhone 6. The source of the photos does claim, however, that the device measures 7.1mm thick compared to the 6.9mm thickness of last year’s model.

If there is a prototype out there, we’re sure more images will show up in the not too distant future.

The second set of images (in the gallery below) come from Chinese repair company GeekBar and show what is claimed to be the display assembly of the iPhone 6s. While there isn’t too much to confirm that these are indeed from the iPhone 6s, the assembly of the unit does appear to differ slightly from the iPhone 6.

As it currently stands we expect to see the introduction of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus sometime in early Sept., keeping with the company’s annualized refresh of its flagship device. Rumors have been circulating that the iPhone 6s is indeed thicker, possibly to accommodate making the camera module flush with the back of the device as opposed to having it protrude like it did on the iPhone 6. The biggest rumor going around is that Apple will be adding Force Touch to the iPhones this year akin to the technology it used in its Apple Watch. This will allow you different controls of the phone depending on the amount of force you apply while touching the display.

Apple has not yet announced when we will see its new phones, but the general assumption is it will be within the first two weeks of Sept. as has been the norm for the past several years. And judging by the number of leaked images showing up (more below) we don’t see any reason to doubt that.

Studying takes precious time. If you would like to speed up the process, and learn to cook some great food while attaining vital learning skills, you should listen to The 4-Hour Chef audiobook, which is currently free.

Based on the New York Times bestseller by Tim Ferriss, this audiobook charts the author’s quest to find the best learners in the world, and use their techniques to teach himself how to cook. In the process, he discovers “meta-learning”, the art of learning how to learn. Ferriss also meets a number of great chefs, and passes on the cooking and survival skills he learns to the listener.

Ferriss has been recognized by Fast Company, Forbes Magazine, and Newsweek’s Digital 100 Power Index for 2012

Follows a worldwide quest to meet and learn from the world’s fastest learners and greatest chefs

Suddenly there’s no shortage of cheap phones. You have the OnePlus 2, Moto G, Moto X Pure Edition, and many others. Joining the fray is ZTE’s new Axon, which, upon first glance, might be one of the market’s affordable dark horses.

It’s not the cheapest cheap phone out there, but that slightly higher price tag shouldn’t scare you away from what is clearly a flagship phone. To top it all off, it sports a premium design along with something called ZTE Passport, which promises customers free replacements and fixes.

Not bad for a device that’s unlocked and hundreds of dollars cheaper than other competing flagship devices.

Check out the unboxing above to see the Axon in action. It might not get the same attention as the Moto X Pure Edition or OnePlus 2, but based on the specs and price, is can certainly hold its own. We’ll have much more coverage on this guy in the coming days and weeks, so stay tuned.

]]>2Brandon Russellhttp://www.technobuffalo.com/?p=7398942015-07-30T23:12:00Z2015-08-01T15:00:40ZFinally, a relatively mellow week. We’re in a kind of a lull at the moment, with Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation the biggest movie coming out between July and August. There were quite a few new trailers that hit this week, but because they don’t necessarily pertain to our geek-ish sensibilities, we didn’t feature them on our main site. However, we did post them to our YouTube channel, so you can check them out if you’re interested. (Black Mass looks awesome, and American Ultra seems like a sleeper hit in the making.)

As a reminder, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp is now available on Netflix, so I suggest you check that out. Outside of that, you might want to go see Ant-Man if you haven’t, or go hit up Rogue Nation, which has been getting some superb reviews so far. Below are all the rumors, trailers and news we didn’t get a chance to hit up this past week.

BoJack Horseman renewed for a third season

One of Netflix’s more bizarre shows, BoJack Horseman, has been renewed for a third season—and this comes shortly after season 2 premiered. The show is a comedy that follows a washed-up star, BoJack Horseman, who announces intentions to publish a tell-all autobiography. It features a host of big talent, including Will Arnett, Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie, and Aaron Paul, among others. [EntertainmentWeekly]

Rachel McAdams in Doctor Strange

Rachel McAdams has confirmed that she has been approached by Marvel Studios to appear in Doctor Strange. She hasn’t officially been cast, though it sounds like discussions are currently ongoing to play the female lead. The movie is still a long way off, set for a Nov. 4, 2016 release, so there’s still plenty of time for casting announcements. Benedict Cumberbatch has been confirmed for the lead role. [LATimes]

New Deadpool images

While we await the official trailer, new Deadpool images have been released. They aren’t much, though the one of Deadpool standing on a freeway in fighting stance is pretty awesome. If you were lucky enough to catch the leaked Comic-Con trailer, Deadpool will live up to its “hard R” promise, and be a very faithful representation to the comic character. With Fantastic Four hitting theaters soon, hopefully the official Deadpool trailer drops soon. [Empire]

Edge of Tomorrow 2 could happen

While doing promotion for Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation, Tom Cruise revealed that he’s very interested in doing Edge of Tomorrow 2, and even said he has an idea for how it could happen. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like it’ll start filming anytime soon; actress Emily Blunt told Cruise that although she’d be interested, she wants a break. “Give me another year, please,” Blunt said. [ScreenCrush]

Five Nights at Freddy’s gets a director, plus a first image

Following the appointment of Gil Kenan as director of Five Night at Freddy’s, Kenan shared an early image of the animatronics set to be used in the film. Kenan said they’re choosing practical effects over CGI, and will construct the animatronics at the Henson Creature Shop. Hey, maybe this movie will turn out to be good after all. Finally, Kenan said he’s a huge FNAF fan, adding the mythology is what drew him to the live-action film in the first place. [Kotaku]

Chris Pine in Wonder Woman

Rather than take a role in Green Lantern Corps, Chris Pine has allegedly decided to play Steve Trevor, who is Wonder Woman’s love interest. No official announcement has been made, though The Wrap says it’s a done deal. No plot details for the standalone Wonder Woman movie have been revealed, so we don’t really know how Pine’s Trevor will factor in, but it must be a good role if Pine decided to pass up Green Lantern. [TheWrap]

Channing Tatum is done with Gambit

With a “major shakeup” at 20th Century Fox looming, Channing Tatum has apparently bowed out of the anticipated Gambit spinoff. It’s unclear what sent the project off the rails, but things are apparently so bad that a film might not even happen, let alone Tatum appear in the title role. Tatum recently showed up at San Diego Comic-Con, seemingly to promote his involvement in the X-Men universe. Things must really be bad for things to change so drastically from now until then. [TheWrap]

Only one Ghostbusters movie coming

There have been a lot of rumors about a second Ghostbusters being worked on, with Chris Pratt and Channing Tatum part of the new crew. However, Ivan Reitman, who created the original movies, has come out to say that the current film being directed by Paul Feig is the only Ghostbusters in the works. That doesn’t mean Pratt and Tatum might not be involved in the future, but it doesn’t look like we’ll get a second movie with them in the leading roles. [EW]

New Mission: Impossible already being planned

Rogue Nation has only just come out, but it sounds like another Mission: Impossible movie is already in the works. During an appearance on The Daily Show, Tom Cruise said the film will probably start shooting next summer, which means we’re still pretty far from a release—two or three years. However, it suggests a story is already in place. By all accounts Rogue Nation is the best Mission: Impossible yet, so it’s no surprise to hear another one is on the way. [TheVerge]

Spider-Man reboot villains

There have been a lot of reports about the upcoming Spider-Man reboot, and perhaps one of the crazier rumors comes from Latino Review. The report claims Billy Zane and Jason Biggs are in talks to play The Vulture and Scorpion, respectively. Strange, but exciting. Two characters that will be very new to anyone who has only seen the Spider-Man movies. At this point, we have no clue what to expect from the standalone film, so this is the best we got. [Latino-Review]

It seems there are still plenty of mysteries yet to be uncovered regarding Batman v Superman. On the heels of Empire’s big spread on the much anticipated blockbuster, Latino Review has put a rumor out into the universe that’s too juicy to…

Empire has released a handful of new photos straight from the X-Men: Apocalypse set, showing the division beginning to build between the different mutant groups. Magneto is looking pretty haggard, while some important new mutants are joining the fray. Nothing…

You met the new characters, now get reacquainted with Daryl, Rick, Michonne, Carol, Morgan and even Judith, all of whom are looking predictably concerned for one reason or another. Entertainment Weekly released a handful of new photos from the season 6 set,…

Amazon on Thursday announced that it has signed Richard Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson to star in a new car show that will be available exclusively to members of Amazon Prime. Clarkson made headlines after he was fired from BBC‘s…

When The Walking Dead returns this fall, the town of Alexandria will be reeling from the events that transpired at the end of season 5. Making things even more complicated is the introduction of three big new characters, of which…

Empire has an in-depth spread about next year’s Batman v Superman, and it reveals many new details about the psyche of Ben Affleck’s older, more road weary Batman. Namely, do his actions in the movie actually make him the antagonist…

Netflix on Tuesday expressed plans to introduce a new Marvel series every six months, with Jessica Jones next up for release. At the Television Critics Association (TCA), Netflix CCO Ted Sarandos acknowledged how successful Daredevil has been, and re-upped the…

New images of the three big boys featured in Batman v Superman have been released. In them, we see a casual (and very Mark Zuckerberg-esque) Lex Luthor standing in the paint of a basketball court; an image of Batman angrily…

New memory technology runs circles around NAND

Few would argue against the notion that today’s high performance solid state drives are blazing fast, especially compared to mechanical hard disk drives, but imagine what tomorrow’s SSDs will be like. Before you do that, take into consideration that Intel and Micron just unveiled a new non-volatile memory technology that they claim is 1,000 times faster than NAND flash memory. Yes, 1,000 times! We’ll give you a moment to pick your jaw up off the floor and clean the coffee off your monitor.

This isn’t a theoretical technology, either. Called 3D XPoint, wafers based on the memory breakthrough are now in production.

“For decades, the industry has searched for ways to reduce the lag time between the processor and data to allow much faster analysis,” said Rob Crooke, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group. “This new class of non-volatile memory achieves this goal and brings game-changing performance to memory and storage solutions.”

The underlying architecture in 3D XPoint contains no transistors. Instead, perpendicular conductors connect 128 billion densely packed memory cells that are stacked in layers in a three-dimensional checkerboard pattern. Each memory cell stores a single bit of data. It looks like this:

This allows data to be written and read in small sizes, which in turn leads to faster and more efficient read and write processes. And in addition to being 1,000 times faster than NAND flash memory, 3D XPoint also has up to 1,000 times the endurance of NAND, according to Intel and Micron.

It’s fun to think of what this could mean for the future of SSDs, though home computing isn’t the only area Intel and Micron have in mind.

“Retailers may use 3D XPoint technology to more quickly identify fraud detection patterns in financial transactions; healthcare researchers could process and analyze larger data sets in real time, accelerating complex tasks such as genetic analysis and disease tracking,” Intel and Micron point out.

At present, 3D XPoint can store 128Gb per die across two stacked memory layers. As the technology matures, future generations will be increase the number of layers and be able to use traditional lithographic pitch scaling to increase die capacity.

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Facebook announced on Thursday that its Internet-providing drones are ready to take flight. The company will begin testing the aircraft later this year in an effort to bring Internet access to hundreds of millions of people.

The social network also noted that it plans to work with established Internet providers rather than compete with them. “Our intention is not to be an operator” Facebook’s VP of engineering Jay Parikh told TechCrunch. “We’re not going to be ‘Facebook ISP.’”

Facebook’s drone, called Aquila, runs on solar power and is capable of flying for 90 days straight. It boasts a 140 foot wingspan—the same as big as a Boeing 737—though the unmanned aircraft only weighs 880 pounds. That’s lighter than a 2015 Toyota Prius.

Each drone will spread Internet via laser, and Facebook says it’s precise enough to hit a dime-sized receptor from up to 10 miles away. In recent tests the Internet-providing laser offered speeds as fast as 10 gigabits per second.

Facebook is competing with Google to bring Internet to some of the most remote parts of the world. The search giant has a head start, and its Project Loon balloons are already roaming the earth. Of course, there can’t really be too much free Internet, and hopefully increasing competition in the space will only mean that both projects progress even quicker than before.

If you ask any PC gamer what the best way to play an FPS is, they’ll tell you it’s a mouse and keyboard.

Peripheral manufacturer Hori hopes to offer the same chance to PlayStation 4 gamers with the Tactical Assault Commander 4. Here’s how it works: the left analog maps to the WASD keys on the keyboard, while the right is mapped to the mouse. Other buttons are mapped to side keys, along with some other features like a Walk button and a button to change mouse sensitivity.

The controller releases on November 30 and is currently listing at around $120, at which point we’ll be able to find out if the setup does a good job of emulating mouse aiming. If that’s the case, it could become a go-to accessory for console shooter fans. The previous iteration, the TAC3, was generally seen as a good idea implemented pretty poorly, so we hope Hori’s managed to improve things.

One of the best parts of Facebook is getting all those “happy birthday” wishes on your wall every year, even if they don’t hold as much value as actually hearing it in person or over the phone. Now Facebook appears to be rolling out a new feature that could cheapen those birthday posts even more.

The social network is actually making it possible to tell your friends happy birthday with a single number. The service is available over SMS for people who don’t use the Facebook app, and lets you post on someone’s wall by simply responding with “1.” The feature was spotted by Peter Knox after a friend got the notification, and reported first by The Next Web.

This is pretty much the least possible amount of effort needed to say happy birthday, at least until Facebook lets you flick a switch to just auto-post on your friends’ walls. Hopefully that’s not actually in the works, though based on this latest news we wouldn’t exactly be surprised if the option popped up in the near future.